LUV director Sheldon Candis at DIFF 2012

Sheldon Candis' debut feature, the vibrant and harsh LUV, has more hard lessons about growing up packed into one day than most people will learn in a lifetime.
Intelligent, studious 11-year-old Woody lives with his grandmother and Uncle Vincent in Baltimore. Vincent is trying to change his life after a recent prison stint. He decides to teach Woody what it means to be man by letting him tag along on his daily adventures as he tries to start his own legitimate business. But it's never easy to wash away the sins of the past, and Vincent is reluctantly thrust back into his old life-with Woody in tow.
Young Michael Rainey Jr. holds his own alongside Common, in perhaps his best acting performance yet, as the dynamic duo are cursed to live out a day ruled by Murphy's Law on streets of Baltimore. Accented by lush cinematography that feels like a love letter to one of America's forgotten cities and one of the most debate-prime endings in recent film history, LUV is the type of film that will leave audience talking for days.
- James Faust